Education for Sustainable Development

A collaborative framework co-designed with universities to embed sustainability across curricula worldwide.

CoDesignS ESD combined logo featuring the Design, Produce and Share model alongside the UN Sustainable Development Goals wheel

The CoDesignS ESD project was founded by a multidisciplinary group of collaborators led by Dr Maria Toro-Troconis in collaboration with universities worldwide, building an extensive global network of ESD champions spanning academic staff, students and UN educational consultants.

Students from diverse academic disciplines engaged in a university lecture

All Disciplines

Supports institutions from every field in embedding ESD into curriculum design and delivery through learning technologies.

Academic team collaborating on curriculum co-design and co-creation

Co-Design & Co-Creation

An easy-to-implement pedagogic method based on UNESCO key competencies for sustainability and QAA/Advance HE guidelines.

UNESCO-endorsed education for sustainable development in a global academic setting

UNESCO Featured

Formally presented at and incorporated in the ESD Bootcamp delivered in collaboration with .

CoDesignS ESD Framework Foundations

UNESCO – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization logo

UNESCO (2017)

Key Competencies for Sustainability

QAA and Advance HE logo – Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education

QAA & Advance HE (2021)

ESD Guidelines (UK)

CoDesignS LD (2019)

Original Learning Design Framework

CoDesignS ESD Framework combined logo – the result of UNESCO (2017), QAA & Advance HE (2021), and CoDesignS LD (2019)

CoDesignS ESD Framework

Toro-Troconis et al., 2024

Global CoDesignS ESD Downloads – May 2026

By May 2026, the CoDesignS ESD Toolkit had been downloaded over 2,000 times across more than 80 countries, as illustrated in the map below:

80+

Countries

2K+

Downloads

2021

Founded

4

Languages

Each circle = a country with toolkit downloadsLarger circle = more downloadsHover a marker for details

CoDesignS ESD Curriculum Planner

The CoDesignS ESD Curriculum Planner is a centralised curriculum mapping tool that enables structured planning and tracking of programmes, modules, and learning activities against key sustainability indicators — supporting academics to collaboratively design curricula and institutional stakeholders to assess alignment with sustainability and learning design frameworks.

We are pleased to announce the release of the new version of the CoDesignS ESD Curriculum/Toolkit Planner. This custom-built platform has been developed to bring together all CoDesignS programmes, tools, and dashboards into a single integrated environment, creating a more streamlined and user-friendly experience for educators, facilitators, and curriculum designers.

CoDesignS ESD Curriculum Planner interface – dashboard overview

CoDesignS ESD Cases

The CoDesignS ESD Toolkit Cases can be applied to different scenarios, encouraging a co-creation and co-design approach among academics and disciplines, and helping to contextualise and operationalise ESD competencies and practices.

📄
32+
Case Studies
🎓
4
Disciplines
🌍
10+
Countries
🗣️
2
Languages

Research

In this special edition of the Open Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, seven university teams from the United Kingdom, UAE, Colombia, Argentina, China, and Spain present and critically reflect on the application of the CoDesignS ESD Framework and Toolkit within their own practices and institutional contexts.

CoDesignS ESD – Case Studies

United Kingdom

  • Manchester Metropolitan University
  • Queen's University Belfast
  • Glasgow Caledonian University
  • University of Essex

UAE · China · Colombia · Argentina · Spain

  • American University of Sharjah
  • The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
  • Universidad Nacional de Colombia
  • Universidad Internacional de Valencia (VIU)

Varga-Atkins, Toro-Troconis, Ahmad (2024). Advances of Learning Design in Education for Sustainable Development: Experiences from the Learning Design and ESD Bootcamp 2022. Special issue of the Open Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (OSTL) Journal.

UNESCO CoDesignS ESD Presentations

ESD-NET Global Meeting – Tokyo, December 2023

At the ESD-NET Global Meeting, the CoDesignS ESD Framework was presented by Dr Maria Toro-Troconis to representatives from various member states. The session titled "Enhancing ESD in Curriculum Design: Digital Tools, Frameworks and Innovations for Designing, Monitoring and Evaluation" was delivered, jointly organised by ALDESD and UNESCO MGIEP.

UNESCO ESD-NET Global Meeting in Tokyo, December 2023 – Dr Maria Toro-Troconis presenting the CoDesignS ESD Framework

ESD-Net Learning Webinar – March 2023

The CoDesignS ESD Framework was presented by Dr Maria Toro-Troconis and Professor Norita Ahmad during the UNESCO ESD-Net Learning Webinar. An interactive workshop was delivered as part of the session, offering participants from various member states the opportunity to learn about the framework and apply it in practice.

UNESCO ESD-Net Learning Webinar, March 2023 – Dr Maria Toro-Troconis and Professor Norita Ahmad presenting the CoDesignS ESD Framework

We're honoured and delighted to receive a letter of acceptance from UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education Ms Stefania Giannini with regards to our expression of interest to join the ‘Greening Education Partnership: Getting every learner climate ready’.

“Please allow me to congratulate your Organisation on its leadership on the promotion of climate change education, which is a critical enabler to tackle, adapt to, and mitigate the challenges of our planetary crisis. I express my sincere gratitude on our close partnership and collaboration on this topic, in particular on your expression of interest to join the ‘Greening Education Partnership: Getting every learner climate ready’.”

UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, Ms Stefania Giannini

Data and analytics representing the CoDesignS ESD Toolkit resources

Find out more about the CoDesignS ESD Toolkit!

CoDesignS ESD Toolkit
Participants at a CoDesignS ESD Learning Design Bootcamp workshop

Find out more about our Bootcamps!

Our Bootcamps
CoDesignS ESD AI Coach logo

Find out more about the CoDesignS ESD AI Coach!

CoDesignS ESD AI Coach
CoDesignS AI Framework – ROCKS prompt anatomy diagram

Find out more about the CoDesignS ESD AI Framework!

CoDesignS ESD AI Framework

CoDesignS ESD is proudly supported by

Logos of CoDesignS ESD supporting partners: UNESCO (top centre), and below: UNESCO IESALC, University of Glasgow, Manchester Metropolitan University, The University of Edinburgh, American University of Sharjah, The Open University, and King's College London
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